How To Publish Those GREAT Classroom Ideas

When Duty Called: Even Grandma Had To Go

Hidden Casualties: Battles On the Home Front

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

A recent
blog by one of my critique partners, Gretchen Griffith, prompted me to finish
this blog, something I started writing a few weeks ago. In her blog, Gretchen
talks about old cards found while cleaning out her great-grandfather’s house.
Check it out here http://tinyurl.com/nxh22mc.

Gretchen's blog made me wonder what, if anything, will our
great-grandchildren discover about our lives? In this tear-them-down, throw-away
world will there even be a house to go through? Or worse yet, will those discs
were putting all our photos on even be viewable on the technology of the day?
Surely the technology we used to save them all will be a laughable joke,
obsolete in our great-grandchildren’s lives.

This is why I think it’s important for ALL
writers to hunker down and write a memoir. Capture all those family stories
that you've been told; interview those great aunts, grandparents and
great-grandparents, if you’re fortunate enough to still have them in your life. Sit
down with that one family member who holds all the stories in their head. You
know--the one you always turn to when trying to figure out who belongs to whom.

My mother was that person in our family. But, I
didn't realize it until she was gone. Suddenly, my go-to person for family lore
and information was no longer with me. Gone were the stories and family
connections of near and distant relations.

"Why do you have to write it?" you ask. Because if you’re a
writer, you have all the skills to get it done. In addition, your descendants will be fascinated with the idea that you were a writer. Trust
me. They will be, even if that novel you've written never hits the Best Seller
List, or even gets published. I guarantee that at least one of your descendants
will want to know more, wish they knew more about who you were, what and why
you wrote?

Memoirs come in all shapes and sizes. They can
be about one event in your life or a relative’s life or a total life history. They
can be general or specific. They might be a collection of stories from
different relatives. You’re the writer. You get to decide.

You don’t have to stop your other writing to
write a memoir. Just start collecting, capturing if you will, some thoughts and
ideas

Print out your thoughts and file in a folder, a real hands-on manila folder
that fits in a file cabinet someone can open later.

Each holiday, write down what happened, the funny stuff and even the not
so funny things.

Ask questions and begin to collect the gems you’re told.

Record your personal
memories of school, entertainment, daily lives back when you were a child.

When a memory surfaces, jot a few notes, names and places, and file it.

Remember to include feelings, especially with your own memories.

Capture stories of life-altering events such as War and depression and
death and disease.

Show the courage exhibited by those who lived it.

Get a digital recorder and sit down with your elderly relatives before it’s too late.Once they’re gone, the stories are lost forever.

You think you’ll remember the specifics of
events and you might, but details fade with time. Jot them down now so you have
them later when you’re ready to put something together.

I had the pleasure of writing two memoirs of Army
Reserve nurses who served in the Persian Gulf War. For both of these gals, the
experience was life-altering, but I can guarantee you they would not be able to
remember the day-to-day struggle they experienced if it hadn't been captured in
their books.

I believe a memoir should be true and honest
capturing the ups and downs of life. You don’t want to upset family members by
dwelling on he-said she-said things, but it will be important for those who
come after to know that you persevered and grew and survived the challenges of
life.

As much as technology and daily life will
change in the future, one thing will not change; people will continue to have joys and sorrows, life-altering experiences and challenges to over-come. And knowing that
relations in the past, great-grandparents or great aunts and uncles, struggled
and overcame despite enormous odds, will inspire future generations to never
give up.

So capture those memoirs that only you can
write. You’re a writer. Do it for your family. Write the memoir only you can write!PS: No, I haven't written my own yet, but I've been collecting stories and memories to pull out of a file when I'm ready. What stories do you have to tell?

**************** Two memoirs written by Sandra Warren for others are: When Duty Called: Even Grandma Had To Go and Hidden Casualties: Battles On The Home Front. Check out all Sandra Warren's books at www.arliebooks.com

8
comments:

You're so right, Sandra. I treasure the letters and autobiography of my father yet feel as if my life's journey is unimportant compared to his. I am keeping journals for all my grandchildren though. Maybe I should add tidbits about my life to those volumes. You got me thinking. Thanks!!

Sandra,I smiled when I read your thoughts on how our new tech storage devices may not even work when future generations find them. Photos that are unable to be opened would be tragic, even worse than finding "browned" or faded ones. Still gathering information mostly at this stage. I agree I love people's stories. I am tackling a memoir of my own. that writing my memoir is worthwhile, even if I never get it published. I will certainly try to though.

Yes, as technology advances, accessing old 2015 information including photos will be harder and harder to do. I think about this quite a bit and haven't come up with a solution except to put them in a book, well, some of them at least.

Thanks for the shout out, Sandra. A man in the project I'm finishing now was able to recount every detail about his fishing history for the past thirty years because of his fishing journal. He recorded places, weather, fish caught, and most interesting facts about the day. What a simple yet valuable treasure to pass along to his children.

Great idea, Sandra. I wrote a memoir about rescuing a very disturbed dog and about a difficult time with my family. Each was therapeutic for me. I'd love to have family memories to write about. I may ask my grands to write about one memory each year and maybe put it together for them.

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About Me

Hi! I’m Sandra Warren, a writer with very eclectic writing tastes. I’ve been fortunate to have publications in multiple genres including children’s, gifted education, parenting, how to, poetry, journal, educational activity guides and biography as well as audio and video production.
I'm a city gal recently transplanted to the mountains of NC where glorious mountain vistas inspire latest renderings.